Dear iSchool alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends,

I recently attended the third annual iConference, generously hosted by the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies on the stunning UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The iConference is perhaps the best showcase for the importance and vitality of the iSchool movement.  The conference featured more than 40 sessions and 175 presenters. There were 277 attendees from 50 schools, including all 19 members of the iSchool Caucus, a group of schools and colleges working together to increase visibility and awareness of the iSchools movement.

 I wanted to share with you two observations from the conference:

iSchools are Making a Difference

The iSchools movement remains incredibly vital. This was reflected throughout the conference—from the opening poster session and keynote and continuing with the paper and breakout sessions, and finally concluding with the keynote by Microsoft’s Christa Phillips and the final plenary session.

The highlights were too numerous to mention: from the engaging opening keynote by Liz Liddy, Dean of the iSchool at Syracuse, in which Dr. Liddy described her work helping people manage their medical information through the use of metadata and natural language processing; to sessions about the changing nature of privacy in our digital age and digital librarianship; and including several lively discussions about the ways social networks are reshaping our sense of community. The sessions reflected the deep thought and consideration that attendees and presenters are bringing to their study in the information field.

The University of Washington was well-represented at the conference, with faculty and students from the PhD program presenting in several sessions. The conference reaffirmed not only my faith in the power of the information field to transform lives, but also my belief that the University of Washington is truly a world-class iSchool, with some of the best faculty, students and scholarship the field has to offer.

The iField is Growing

This year’s iConference can be considered the most successful ever. Whether measured in terms of attendees; poster, paper and roundtable sessions; or in terms of the diversity of subjects and disciplines incorporated into what has become an ongoing forum for scholarship in the field, this year’s iConference was a highly effective way to celebrate library and information professionals and the work they do. In addition to increased synergy, the growth of the iSchools movement also faces some challenges. Several sessions at the conference were dedicated to the ways iSchools define both themselves and the information field. Spirited debate surrounded the question of how the movement should move forward, with the question of interdisciplinarity (and whether to embrace it or rein it in) rising to the fore. Whichever side of the discussion one happens to be on, the discussion about this important subject is welcome. This ongoing work at definition, along with the efforts conducted in parallel to broaden awareness of what an iSchool is, can only been seen as a healthy complement to the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness being brought to bear on the information challenges our society faces.

Best wishes and warm regards,

Harry Bruce
Professor and Dean
University of Washington Information School